


Safe

by lunaseemoony



Category: Broadchurch, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 04:13:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3714577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The latest crime in Broadchurch hits Alec a little too close to home, leaving him concerned for Rose's safety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe

 

Alec Hardy couldn't be brought down by the thunderstorm that swept through Broadchurch just as he made to leave the station well past midnight. Even as his socks became sponges and his toes numb from dashing through every ice cold puddle, he couldn't be bothered. The sunny weather that blanketed the town following Joe Miller's departure so many months ago felt like a fever dream compared to the perpetual downpour that accompanied his latest case, a kidnapping. After spending the better part of his day undoing the damage dealt by Miller's bloodhound of a nephew, the peaceful sunrise that Alec witnessed as he set off to work that morning seemed to have passed ages ago. Knowing that he'd made little progress in this case was weighing more heavily on his shoulders than his useless windbreaker. It also saw him quickly filing into his car without a care to his drenched clothes, because it fueled the irrational need to see her safe that had been tugging at his subconscious all day.

Of course he knew that she was safe, despite how he missed her endless series of text messages that usually interrupted his work day. The one time that he might have taken comfort in those bloody icons or her asking about his day would be the time that she'd finally learned to not distract him while he worked. Perhaps she couldn't be bothered. His years working as a detective hadn't yielded him much in the way of understanding the inner workings of the feminine mind. The only thing suppressing his niggling worries was his greater fear for anyone that might come between Rose Tyler and her own safety.

Rose was the one that had yearned for the quiet life in the suburbs. At one time Alec thought that he'd wanted it, too. He'd needed Rose more than he was willing to admit during Joe Miller's trial, and though she'd picked up on this and moved in with him in his shack, her comforts came with a risk. He hadn't expected the quaint and quiet countryside to seduce Rose. He was secretly hoping for her to ask him to return with her to the open arms of urban sprawl. She was even a bit clever in the delivery of her argument to stay in Broadchurch, citing that the little town might need his level head and stern demeanor to fall back on after all of the wounds that Danny Latimer's murder opened up.But just as this kidnapping suggested that Danny's murder hadn't been so anomalous after all, the quaint little street that they'd moved into wasn't so peaceful as they'd hoped. Their new neighbor, the seemingly kind-hearted schoolteacher, was the missing person Alec had been tasked with finding.

It hadn't started out as a kidnapping case. Alec was certain when he'd gotten the call early that morning that the woman had simply decided to leave town. Knowing that Rose was only two doors down from the house that had been turned upside down the previous night made his stomach churn. Surely the lowlife that ran off with the schoolteacher would have made quite the ruckus in their efforts, and he was kicking himself a bit for not noticing it in the slightest. After all that Rose had seen him through, this shouldn't have shaken his confidence in his ability to keep her safe. He certainly wasn't about to allow himself to use all of his life's recent drastic changes as an excuse.

His need to see her safe almost had him forgetting to lock and bolt their front door behind him. The suddendarkness that fell on Alec's eyes as he dropped his windbreaker on the entryway floor dizzied him. Rose should be asleep, the lights are _supposed_ to be off, he reminded himself. Silence could be just as good as it was ominous. His feet flew him up the stairs without any regrets for the atrocious noise (and mess) they must have been making. He would have happily left his pacemaker at the bottom of the staircase if it couldn't keep up with his determination. Despite its incessant pounding at Alec's nerves, the thunder was no deterrent for Rose keeping their hallway window open a crack. And he told himself that they _always_ slept with their bedroom door ajar, that it _should_ be this way.

Even in a darkened room that nearly saw Alec tripping over his own laundry basket, Rose always glowed. And he wasn't even just thinking about the crown of golden locks that framed her sleeping face. Rose's skin always reminded him of that last glimmer of sunshine that rested on the horizon of every sunset. And he'd become a bit of a connoisseur of sunsets while living in Broadchurch. Yet he always ended up wanting to watch her instead, curled up in a ball on top of all their blankets, clad only in one of his day old shirts, not a care in the world.

It took him at least half a minute of standing in their bedroom that was lit only by the occasional crack of lightning to let her safety wash relief over him with a few deep, trembling breaths. Of course she'd been safe the whole time. He considered himself fortunate that he didn't have to share his fears with anyone, not even with the siren that slept on his bed.

But she knew he wasn't perfect, and reminded him that she loved him for it on a regular basis. Rose had a particular knack for unearthing the imperfections that he worked so hard to bury. Perhaps that's one way she was able to work her way into his well worn heart. Together they were gloriously imperfect.

“Go and towel off before you catch a cold, Alec” the “sleeping” siren yawned at him, interrupting his train of thought. He tore himself away from the sight of her to do as he'd been instructed.

At times they were the worst influences on one another. In the past their relationship had been akin to an active volcano, given to erupt at times. This wasn't always a bad thing, he mused. They'd certainly made plenty of mistakes together, and had their fair share of accidents. His favorite one was nestled safely in Rose's arms.

Alec returned to the bedroom stripped of his wet clothes, and ignored how clammy and cool his skin felt as he knelt before his bed to reclaim sight that had made his breath hitch and his heart skip a beat. And to get a better view, his shaky fingers peeled his shirt away from her gentle curves to reveal the source of most of his anxiety: his son.

The tempest occurring outside seemed to fade away with the sights and sounds of his infant son cradled in Rose's arms. The thunder rumbling over the clouds was replaced with the squeaks that his tiny pink lips made as he suckled on his mother's breast. The thick odor of mud and rain that had coated the air was quickly forgotten in favor of the sour sweetness of Peter's chocolate hair tickling Alec's nose. Nothing gave his eyes more relief than the sight of Rose's arm cradling their baby's delicate spine, and her creamy thighs curled up against his chubby legs.

“All right?” Rose asked. Although her question interrupted his train of thought, the warmth of her voice on his ears did very little to pull him out of the state of bliss he'd fallen into.

They had a rule. There was no discussing police work in the house. It was one rule that he never broke.

“Yeah,” Alec mumbled, and trusted her to read between the lines.

“Have you eaten?” she asked as he slipped into a spoon with her, and threaded his fingers with hers.

“Yup.”

“Liar,” she hissed, and teased him with her tongue-tucked smile.

“You going to make me get up then?” he asked as he made himself flush with her, and kissed the top of her head.

Rose was in tune with her son. She sighed just as he cooed between breaths. Though she shook her head, he felt that she didn't really need to answer. Alec then felt a renewed resolve to make them safe not only when he held them so tenderly, but always. He couldn't say that he would die trying any more, because they were counting on him to be there, to be a part of their family. It was a notion that had Alec wishing he had met them before his heart troubles, because as long as he had his beloved and his son, he could forget that he'd ever had any.

 


End file.
